1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a seat plate assembly that can be connected, without the use of tools, to the bottom of a seat during the assembly of a chair that is shipped disassembled from the manufacturer. The no-tools seat plate assembly includes a gas cylinder receiver that is initially blocked to prevent a premature attachment of a seat lift gas cylinder until the seat plate assembly has first been securely connected to the seat.
2. Background Art
To conserve shipping space and reduce shipping costs, it is known to ship articles of furniture in a disassembled condition. Thus, the furniture can be shipped from the manufacturer to the retailer and carried to a home or office by the purchaser in a compact shipping container. One such piece of furniture that is suitable to be shipped disassembled is a chair of the kind having wheels, a base, a seat and a backrest. The elevation of the seat relative to the base can be selectively adjusted by the user. To accomplish the foregoing, a lever arm is manually manipulated by the user to control the operation of a seat lift gas cylinder that is typically mounted at the bottom of the seat.
Following purchase of the chair just described, the purchaser is often required to use tools (e.g., wrenches) and special skill to complete the assembly process prior to use. The assembly process may prove to be difficult and time consuming which can lead to frustration on the part of the purchaser. Moreover, it is desirable that the seat lift gas cylinder be interfaced with the seat at a particular time during assembly to avoid an early and inadvertent operation of the cylinder.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a seat plate assembly that includes a gas cylinder receiver and a gas cylinder operating lever arm and which is capable of being reliably connected to the bottom of a seat during the assembly of a chair sold disassembled without the use of tools or special skill. It would also be advantageous to be able to prevent attachment of the seat lift gas cylinder to the gas cylinder receiver until such a time as the seat plate assembly has first been securely connected to the seat.